FORT MYERS, Fla. - After moving Stetson into last weekend's originally scheduled bye week, the FGCU men's basketball team (7-6, 2-4 ASUN) returns to action this Friday and Saturday in a make-up series against North Alabama (10-4, 6-2 ASUN). The two teams were originally slated to open up the ASUN schedule (1/1-2), but due to COVID protocols, the Eagles had to pause for two weeks which postponed the series. Both games will tip at 7 PM and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Single-game tickets and group tickets (as low as $10 each) are on sale now through the Alico Arena Ticket Office. Fans are encouraged to order tickets online through www.FGCUTickets.com or by calling 866-FGCU-TIX. FGCU is using mobile ticketing this year as part of its COVID-19 protocols so please check www.FGCUTickets.com for complete details or call the ticket office to speak with a customer service representative. 

The Eagles split their second-straight ASUN series last weekend with a win on Friday night against Stetson before falling to the Hatters on Saturday night. FGCU is currently 8th in the league standings, while North Alabama is in a three-way tie for first.

Junior Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) has been one of the top players in the ASUN this year averaging a team-best 13.7 points per night. Sophomore Cyrus Largie (Miramar, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) continues his walk-on to scholarship player story line averaging 13.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, while senior Jalen Warren (Milton, Ontario/Eastern Florida State) rounds out the top scorers with 10.9 points per game.

Sophomore Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) has been a force on the defensive end leading the league in blocks per game (1.85), but FGCU has been without freshman Luis Rolon (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Central Pointe Christian Academy) the last four games. Rolon was the league leader, and ranked among the top 20 nationally, in steals (2.44) and led the ASUN in assists (4.9).

North Alabama is led by Mervin James and Jamari Blackmon who are averaging 15.4 and 11.7 points, respectively. Payton Youngblood, C.J. Brim, and Emanuel Littles are all averaging just shy of 10 points per night as well. The Lions have won six of their last seven outings - the one loss in that stretch came last Saturday at North Florida, 82-72.

BLOCK PARTY
• With 63 career blocks, Rivers ranks eighth all-time in program history. He needs just 12 more to crack into the program's top five. With an average of 1.85 per game, the forward leads the ASUN. With 24 blocks this season, he needs 14 more to crack the single-season top-10 list and 15 more to tie his total from 2019-20 (39) which was a freshman record and ranks ninth for a single campaign.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
• Eli Abaev has made his presence known in his first season in Fort Myers having hauled in a team-best 95 rebounds. His 7.3 boards per game are second in the ASUN and he is joined in the top 10 by Largie's 6.2 (6th). Through 13 contests, Largie's already hauled down 80 boards which has surpassed his total during his rookie season (59).

PROTECT THE ROCK... OR ELSE
• Through 13 games this season, FGCU has proven to be a menace to teams that can't protect the ball. The Eagles' 8.0 steals per game paces the ASUN and is 52nd-best nationally.Rolon was the league-leader with 2.44 per game which ranked 17th nationally before missing the last four games.

LIONS VS EAGLES
• FGCU is 1-5 all-time against North Alabama after the Lions won both meetings last season. The sole FGCU win in the series came on Feb. 6, 2019 at Alico Arena (71-64).  
• The two teams first met on Jan. 31, 2005 - an 82-78 win for North Alabama.

#TRIPLECITY???
• While the FGCU women's basketball team holds a firm grip on the #RainingThrees title, #DunkCity hasn't been too shabby over the years from range either. In fact, FGCU has hit a three-pointer in 359 consecutive games entering this weekend. The last time the Eagles failed to connect from deep was on Jan. 10, 2010 against Jacksonville (0-8 3FG).

LAST TIME OUT - EAGLES SPLIT AGAINST STETSON
• For the second straight weekend, FGCU split an ASUN series after winning last Friday's meeting with Stetson, 64-63, before falling on Saturday night, 77-66.
• On Friday, the Eagles were able to outlast the Hatters as Stetson missed two three-point attempts in the final six seconds of play. The game featured 11 lead changes and eight ties with the largest lead for either team just seven points the whole night. Justus Rainwater earned the No. 2 Play of the Day on ESPN's Sports Center thanks to a reverse alley-oop dunk off a pass from Jalen Warren.
• Game two saw the Hatters take a 40-26 lead into halftime that FGCU wasn't able to recover from. Cyrus Largie scored a team high 16 points, but Stetson's Rob Perry had a game high 30 while Chase Johnson added 20 points.

For complete coverage of FGCU men's basketball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MBB and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's basketball and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

UPCOMING ASUN SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 5
Lipscomb at Stetson - 6 PM
North Alabama at FGCU - 7 PM
North Florida at Liberty - 7 PM
Jacksonville at Bellarmine - 7 PM

Saturday, Feb. 6
Jacksonville at Bellarmine - 5 PM
Lipscomb at Stetson - 6 PM
North Alabama at FGCU - 7 PM
North Florida at Liberty - 7 PM
 

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E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
COACH FLY
Michael Fly was introduced as the fourth FGCU men's basketball head coach on April 5, 2018. He had spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach on the Eagles' staff. In his time with the Eagles, he helped FGCU to a 171-114 record (.603 winning percentage), including six ASUN Tournament Final appearances, three NCAA Tournament victories, three ASUN Tournament titles and three ASUN Regular Season Championships, two berths in the NIT, a CIT appearance and a run to the Sweet 16. He has coached 13 all-conference selections while with the Green and Blue, including two ASUN Player of the Year honors in Sherwood Brown and Brandon Goodwin, two ASUN Defensive Player of the Year selections in Bernard Thompson and Demetris Morant and one ASUN Newcomer of the Year in Schadrac Casimir. Of the top-10 players in career points at FGCU, Fly has helped develop eight of them, including all-time leading scorer Thompson (1,835). Additionally, the Kentucky alumnus has coached both the ASUN all-time assists leader Brett Comer (845; 24th in NCAA history) and FGCU all-time leading rebounder Chase Fieler (714).
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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